Driver races onto PSPs

When Ubisoft purchased the rights to the Driver franchise from Atari last year, question marks surrounded one game that was already in development. Last February, Atari announced that Sumo Digital was working on a PlayStation Portable version of Driver: Parallel Lines, which was released on the PlayStation 2 and Xbox in March 2006. However, after Ubisoft revealed that it had acquired the rights to the Driver name, little was heard about the game.

Now it appears that the PSP Driver game in development was also included in the licensing deal, with a few strings attached. Ubisoft today announced that Driver 76 for the PSP is currently in the works by Sumo Digital and Reflections, the original developer of Driver, which is now owned by Ubisoft. Ubisoft says Driver 76 isn't a handheld port of Parallel Lines and will feature an all-new storyline.

Driver 76 takes place in 1976 New York City, two years before the events of Parallel Lines. Gamers will once again be able to tackle missions by car or on foot, with side missions available to help pay for car upgrades. Outside of the 27-mission single-player campaign, the game offers several different game modes for multiplayer action and downloadable content.

Driver 76 has not yet been rated and will be released this March.